Washington State Police Chief Cannot Believe Trump is Doing What He Helped Elect Him To Do

“Wait a minute, this is actually affecting these peoples’ lives and I didn’t sign up for this.”

Donald Trump's commitment to enforcing immigration was not vague during his bid for presidency. Still, some of his constituents who were eager for change but uncomfortable with the vitriolic rhetoric said the then-candidate was "just talk."

Residents of  Pacific County, Washington, north of Astoria, are now coming to the realization that Trump is proving true to his word when it comes to deportations.

In a video produced recently by BBC News, teachers, students and local law enforcement in the small Washington county express regret for voting Republican in last year's election—the first time since 1952 it has done so.

Residents say federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have preyed on the "most vulnerable" members of their communities—i.e. immigrants.

"Shame on me," Flint Wright the police chief in Long Beach, Wash. told BBC, "but I didn't think of how it would play out with people that I know."

Wright voted for Trump. Over the past year he says he's watched established community members—largely those employed by the local fishery and cannery—be arrested or detained by ICE.

Now, he says, "I have no idea what we're going to do. Those [industries] are all very much heavily dependent upon migrant workers. But even more than that, people have just been emotionally in turmoil because they've seen people they've known for years: friends, acquaintances, neighbors […] kids in school together, just gone."

Long Beach school system's superintendent, Jenny Risner, told BBC that the small district has lost around 25 students to ICE deportations.

"It's hard to explain to classrooms not understanding how their country is doing this," Risner said.

The missing - consequences of Trump's immigration crackdown

In a rural county that voted for President Donald J. Trump, people are shocked to see friends, neighbours and schoolmates deported. http://bbc.in/2F14O18

Posted by BBC News on Sunday, January 21, 2018

For his part, Wright said his most painful coming-to-terms moment was watching a friend get pick up by ICE.

"It's easy to hear soundbites and say 'yes, that's great policy'," he said. "It's different when you start implementing it and start seeing, now, wait a minute, this is actually affecting these peoples' lives and I didn't sign up for this."

Locally, in the last year, Portland has witnessed ICE agents arrest people outside of Legacy Emanuel Hospital and the Washington County Courthouse. 

A recent raid also targeted four local 7-Elevens, though no arrests were made, and last month chef Manuel Lopez of Portland's Angel Food and Fun Mexican restaurant was denied a visa extension.

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